North coast ride
by Paul

Comment:
This one took my breath away.

Still Life with Fruit
by DistantColours

Comment:
I'd describe this as "academically compelling." And I mean that as high praise. This feels like it belongs in a textbook dealing with how one artistic medium can pay homage to another.

Towards the Capitol
by Paul

Comment:
I love the expressionist tone of this art piece. I'm not sure I would describe it as "painterly" so much as "visually distressed" or "grungy," but it's very compelling for me either way. One of my favorites this challenge.

Midnight Swim
by vawendy

Comment:
This is the epitome of a photo that never stops feeling distinctly like a photo yet simultaneously works at the level of a Rembrandt painting. One of my top three this challenge.

All That Jazz
by nam

Comment:
Oh, wow. This is something special. One of my favorites this challenge, to be sure.

For some reason, when I look at it, I (entirely subjectively) picture the composition cropped a bit more abstractly--perhaps just above the pianist's chin--hinting more at the energy of the music itself as the subject of the image than the identity of the musician. If that makes sense.

A Stroll in the Garden
by jomari

Comment:
This one feels like the very definition of one way of interpreting this challenge--and one of my top three overall. I would never have seen this and known right away that it was a photograph to begin with. It just feels like a sentimental, artistically compelling visual composition.

For me, this is nearly perfect exactly as it is. But I do wonder if raising the black level would deepen the vignette effect of the shadows at the edges of the composition and really make your subject pop just a bit more.

the house
by mitalapo

Comment:
There's a gentle humor to this composition that I absolutely adore.

I would be interested to see whether this image would work better or worse for me if the people and the dog in the middle ground weren't there.

Courtesy of Mother Nature
by DCrest01

Comment:
I love the vibrant colors and emotional quality of this composition. It hints at an unfinished story of sorts.

en plein air
by skewsme

Comment:
This looks like it would have been captured in autumn rather than springtime. How did you achieve that effect? It's impressively rendered.

I like how the bare tree toward the left gently becomes the focal point after the overall impression is made. It makes for a surprisingly engaging composition.

Swan Lake
by ErinKirsten

Comment:
Sublime execution. It really registers as photorealistic art rather than simply as a photograph--which, in my book, is incredibly difficult to achieve this convincingly.